Monday, February 10, 2014

Australia Catholic Church 'has work to do'

The Catholic Church in Australia has much work to do
to regain the public's trust and it will need more than just words, a
church spokesman says.

The comments, from Francis Sullivan of the church's Truth,
Justice and Healing Council, come in the wake of a damning UN report
condemning Vatican policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens
of thousands of children over decades.

Responding to the report on Thursday, Mr Sullivan said the severity of it didn't surprise him.

"It's going to have to be more than words - it's actions that
will begin to rebuild the trust that's eroded," Mr Sullivan told the ABC
on Thursday.

"It's obvious ... the community has lost the trust in the way the
church has handled this and as we've said, certainly for Australia but
for anywhere, the days of the church investigating itself are over."

He said it was a "no brainer" to create and independent authority
to investigate calls for transparency about which priests have been
involved in sex abuse.

But Nicky Davis from the Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests denied that the church in Australia had been proactive in its
approach to investigate abuse.

"That's hilarious that Francis said that, and they've been
dragged kicking and screaming towards any sort of improvement," she told
the ABC.

"They've got a long way to go."

She said the Vatican will "fight to the death" on issues around
contraception and abortion, and it faces losing a lot of supporters and
government subsidies if it continues to hold its stances.